A professional editor will look at your written work in an objective manner. You as the writer are so close to the paper that you cannot review it properly. Since you as the writer are familiar with the topic about which you are writing, you may not realize that some of the statements are written in a way that is not clear to other readers. You are also so involved in the text and the subject of the text, that you most likely cannot see errors in the printed word. As you read the text, you will just read what you meant - not what is actually written on the page.
As a writer, whether as an author of a novel or non-fiction book, a technical article, a thesis or dissertation, a business journal article, you want to concentrate on the content. You want to convey an idea or a story. Many novel authors tell me that the ideas and the characters just flow from their minds. These authors do not have the inclination nor the desire to painstakingly deal with the mechanics of writing when they are developing these ideas flowing from their minds. The scientist wants to express his technical idea or theory. The novelist wants to make her characters come to life.
While writing these stories from your heart and or mind, you must concentrate on the message or it will be weak or lack enthusiasm. But, the professional editor will focus on the mechanics and ensure that the sentence structure is correct. She will fix any spelling errors, catch any inconsistencies in tense and make sure there are no typos.
If you are using dialogue, your professional editor will make sure that the proper punctuation is being used and that the reader will know who is talking when, and to whom. Paragraphs will be arranged properly so that for each speaker, a new paragraph is started. This person will review the flow and logic of the story and the discussion in the story.
For the writer of the thesis or dissertation, the professional editor will review all the grammatical techniques and make sure that the ideas are presented in a logical and understandable manner. The professional editor will not change your idea but will ensure that the idea is clear to the reader.
When editing a client's paper, I use the Track Changes feature in MS Word. The document is sent back to the author (writer) with the changes visible. The deletions, changes and additions are easily seen so that the author can accept or reject the changes as appropriate. Track Changes also allows the editor to insert comments to point out any questions or ideas in a space that is not directly in the manuscript.
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